The new Labour government is not breaking new ground in identifying planning reform as the key to solving the housing crisis puzzle.

In the aftermath of fthe inancial crisis the Cameron government embarked on a path of liberalising the planning system, by using permitted development rights to allow certain types of existing buildings to be converted to residential use without the need for planning consent. The liberalisation of permitted development rights has had some success: between 2015/16 and 2022/23 just over 100,000 new homes were built under permitted development rights. This however was not enough to have a material impact on the housing crisis.